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Our web site
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 PCA Backs South Burnett In Regional Culinary
Quest
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30th May
2003: I was delighted yesterday when the
Peanut Company of
Australia (PCA) came aboard as the final major sponsor for Team South
Burnett, the group of four chefs I'm heading up who'll be competing in the
LifeStyle Channel Regional Culinary
Competition that's being held in Adelaide this October (the other
three team members are Steve Gudzinski, Clinton Smoothy and Adrian Hauritz).
PCA came to the rescue of the Regional Cuisine Cook-Off Competition at the
Wine and Food In The Park Festival
earlier this year and their support for Team South Burnett means
we no longer need to spend time fund-raising. Instead, we can concentrate
all our efforts on winning culinary (and publicity!) gold for the South Burnett.
In the competition we'll have three hours to prepare a gourmet meal for 4
people using fresh regional produce, evey course matched to a South Burnett
wine. And since peanuts are one of the South Burnett's best-known crops,
you can naturally expect that we'll be incorporating them in our entry!
Photo: PCA General Manager Bob Hansen hands over a sponsorship
cheque outside the company's signature peanut silos in Kingaroy (photo courtesy
of the South Burnett Times).
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Captains
Paddock Harvests The Last Shiraz
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 27th May 2003: Here's one
for your diary: today
Captains Paddock at Booie
harvested an acre (which works out to something between 1.0 and 1.5 tonnes)
of what are likely to be the very last shiraz grapes picked anywhere
in Australia this year. Shiraz grapes are normally cut off the vines in March
and because of the drought most of the South Burnett's crop actually got
the snip in late January 2003. But Peter Eaton and Maryanne Pidcock at the
Paddock decided they wanted to try something different. So in December they
pruned the immature grapes off the vines and made ver juice out of
them (I'll have a story about this once its labelled and available).
This early pruning forced the vines to regrow. And by leaving them to ripen
all through the summer and autumn, the fruit that was harvested today has
a deep, intense flavour that's likely to produce an absolutely
outstanding shiraz when it's finally released in early 2005. Peter
tells me he's going to call the wine "The Last Shiraz" when he bottles
it. And with only an acre's worth their won't be much to go around. But it's
certainly one to watch out for [PS: Paddock fans should note that
they've now run through all their old cellar and their 2001 stock is now
the earliest they have available. So if you want one of their old reds, best
be quick about it!]
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South Burnett Wine
Industry To Set Basic Quality Benchmarks
-
 24th
May 2003: The South Burnett Wine Industry Association (SBWIA)
has announced a far-sighted plan to set a basic quality benchmark for the
region's wines. Under the plan, the SBWIA will establish a technical committee
who'll vet all the South Burnett's new releases each year to ensure they
avoid the three most common winemaking faults: oxidisation,
excessive sulphides and volatile acids. All these faults can
be corrected before a wine is released and removing them would mean that
consumers could be assured that any wine with an SBWIA stamp of approval
was going to be technically correct. The commonsense reasoning behind the
plan is that a lack of quality standards in the early years of the
State's wine production has acted to the long-term disadvantage of
all Queensland wines - as I'm sure anyone who's encountered
a bottle of turpentine can only agree (and sadly, hasn't that been almost
all of us at some stage?). The SBWIA want to set the South Burnett apart
in consumers' minds as quickly as possible and think that one of the best
ways to do this is to simply avoid repeating the same dumb mistakes
that other wine-making regions have made. Ensuring that South Burnett wines
are a synonym for quality is an obvious step in the right direction
and I'm sure everyone can only applaud this visionary initiative.
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South Burnett Cuisine
Web Site Goes Into Print
-
 21st
May 2003: As most people in the South Burnett already know by now (but
I'll still say it for the benefit of the few who were away on holidays last
week), excerpts from this web site can now be found in every edition of the
South Burnett Adviser.
Barry and Wendy Campbell - the owners of this popular paper - recently moved
their printing presses from Nanango to Kingaroy to centralise distribution
and news collection. They now distribute 8,500 copies every fortnight to
all thirteen towns in the South Burnett from Blackbutt through to Goomeri.
The Adviser's broadened content also reflects its whole-of-region distribution
with articles and advertising coming from every corner of the area. Barry
felt that the phenomenal growth of the South Burnett's wine and food tourism
industries warranted the inclusion of a dedicated wine and food news column
and I must say it's nice to see a major newspaper lending its weight to this
subject matter. If you're a new visitor to the site after reading our first
column in the South Burnett Adviser last week, a very warm welcome! Check
in for a new story every three days.
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Endeavour Foundation
Dinner A Raging Success
-
 18th May 2003: Last month I mentioned that the Car 134
Great Endeavour Rally team were putting on a special black tie dinner
at
Stuart Range Estates winery
in Kingaroy. Well, that dinner happened last Friday night (May 16th) when
dozens of wine and food lovers turned up at the winery for a great night
out. The theme of the dinner was "Winemaking in the Outpost" and SRE's winemaker
Ross Whiteford entertained everyone with stories of his winemaking
experiences. Describing his love of fine port, Ross recalled waking up many
mornings with a sore head, an empty chocolate wrapper and an empty bottle
of port. "Chocolate can have that effect" he warned diners. The six-course
menu - featuring regional produce - was prepared by Team South Burnett and
served by Kingaroy TAFE Hospitality students. One of the night's meals which
won rave reviews (and a round of applause from diners) was a Tennessee-inspired
Spicy Peanut and Watercress Soup. Hosts Ralph Huston, Jennie
Munro and Josh Shatte thanked everyone involved in organising
the event and made a special note of thanking the real beneficiaries of the
dinner: the inspirational Endeavour Foundation clients. And Ross Whiteford
said he was so pleased with the night that he now plans to make this kind
of fundraising dinner an annual event. Photo: Diners soak up the
ambience of the Barrel Room at Stuart Range Estates.
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Winter 2003 Releases
And A South Burnett Wine Club
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15th May
2003: If you like wine - especially South Burnett wine - I have
two bits of information that may interest you. The first is
that we're going to see a swag of new wine releases from our local winemakers
from about June onwards. This will be when they'll
really start rolling out a lot of their 2001/02 reds and 2002/03
whites. So while we've seen a couple of very exciting new releases in the
last few months (eg: Stuart Range's April One, Barambah Ridge's 2001 Reserve
Cabernet Sauvignon and Captain's Paddock's 2002 Bottom Paddock Chardonnay),
the real bulk is going to begin appearing in winter. The second bit of news
I have is that moves are currently underway to create a South Burnett
Wine Appreciation Society. While plans are yet to be finalised, the core
idea is that members would gather for dinner and a night out with one of
the region's winemakers once a month, sampling the product and getting a
better understanding of just what makes each wine different from its brothers
and sisters. Cost? Probably $15 to $20 per annum for membership, and about
$35 to $40 per head every meeting (which would be held at one of the region's
top eating establishments). If you think you'd be interested in something
like this,
send me an email and I'll
let you know when things are getting more concrete.
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Art Gallery Shows
South Burnett Wine Is Just Fine!
-
 12th May 2003: In February this year the
Wondai Shire Regional Art
Gallery launched an initiative that - I think - has been long overdue.
Gallery curator Alison Iszlaub began holding wine tastings
with each exhibition opening, inviting a new South Burnett winery along every
month to show off their wares. So far this year attendees have sampled drops
from
Barambah Ridge,
Ziebarth Wines,
Captain's Paddock and
Stuart Range Estates.
And Alison hopes to be able to showcase every South Burnett
wine producer in the Gallery over the months and years ahead ...then do it
all over again! The Gallery's initiative has been very well received and
many attendees have been surprised at the depth and quality
of the wines on show. Many others have taken the opportunity to get to know
the local winemakers better too. I can only hope that some local restaurants
who don't currently stock South Burnett wines take a good, long look at the
Gallery's move and change their cellar policies. We're going to have a
sensational wine industry develop here in the next decade -
but the time to start getting 100% behind it is right now. Photo above:
Josh Gadischke from Stuart Range Estates with Jade Young and Alison Iszlaub
winning over hearts and minds for Sourth Burnett wines at the Wondai Shire
Regional Art Gallery
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South Burnett To
Re-Invent Australian Pork
-
 9th May 2003: Two days ago I was invited to the inaugural
meeting of a pork product development think-tank hosted by Swickers Managing
Director John Coward. The think tank included representatives from
Hans Continental Smallgoods, Woolworths, Swickers, a nutritionist and
professional chefs. Its aim is to develop a range of value-added pork
products to compete against the more successful chicken, seafood and
red meat markets. Right at the moment pork sits about fourth on domestic
meat sales and consumption figures. But producers are dismayed by the amount
of pork imported into our country (currently around 5000 tonnes a year).
And with domestic sales well below their potential, the think-tank is keen
to develop new product ranges, brand names and an effective marketing strategy
for the meat to secure its place on the Australian dinner plate. Although
Swickers is taking a lead role in this bold initiative - and since they're
now the second-largest pork processing plant in the country, it's
probably right that they do so - they're quick to point out that the entire
Australian pork industry needs to embrace a pro-active role in product
development. Swickers plans to work closely with Australian Pork Limited
and I'll keep you up-to-date on the progress of this groundbreaking initiative
in future bulletins. Photo above: John Coward (Swickers Managing
Director), Wendy Morgan (Innovations and Solutions Nutritionist) and Terry
McMahon (Hans Continental Small Goods National Marketing Manager) plot the
future of pork in Australia.
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Belle Villa Farm
Opens Tasting Room
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 6th May 2003: Kilkivan's
Belle Villa Farm took
another step in its development as a South Burnett culinary tourist attraction
this week when it officially opened a new tasting room on the premises. The
farm - run by Allan and Margaret McGrigor - raises olives,
redclaw crayfish and Wiltshire sheep. It's been offering guided farm tours
and morning and afternoon teas for awhile now and its reputation as a "must
see" has been steadily growing as the enterprise has expanded. Belle Villa
is also part of the new "Taste The Magic Of The South Burnett" bus
tours that take in
Clovely Estates Winery
at Moffatdale,
Barambah Ridge Winery
at Redgate and
The Left Bank at Kilkivan
(see story 27th March 2003). The new tasting room allows visitors
to sample the wide variety of products produced at the farm which - apart
from redclaw and olives - now include infused oils, dukkah, olive and lemon
myrtle tea, tapenades and a range of natural skin care products. Belle Villa
is located about 1 km off the Wide Bay Highway near Fat Hen Creek. If you'd
like to make a booking yourself, you can phone them on (07)
5484-1372
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Team South Burnett
Gets $3,000 Sponsorship from SBLGA
-
 3rd May 2003: Regular readers of this web site are probably
aware that I'll be attending the
LifeStyle Channel Regional Culinary
Competition in Adelaide later this year along with three other local
chefs. We're going to be representing the South Burnett in a national cook-off
that has the potential to draw huge amounts of publicity to this area.
What you may not be aware of is just how expensive this operation
is. So I'm very grateful to the many sponsors who've come forward with all
sorts of support for this concept over the last six months. The most recent
was the
South Burnett Local Government
Association who presented our team with a $3,000 sponsorship cheque
at a special ceremony filmed by WIN-TV earlier this week (watch
for it on air soon). The SBLGA represent all the Councils in the South
Burnett and this organisation plays an enormous role in developing the region.
In fact, the internet network you're reading this on now (the South Burnett
Online network) wouldn't be possible without them. And if you're using
Burnett.Net.Au as your
ISP, that wouldn't exist either. Nor would the recently-released Regional
Cuisine Cookbook. Or many other things you might take for granted. I'm
very grateful to all the sponsors who are getting behind our quest to whip
the rest of the nation, and it's nice to know that this level of backing
goes all the way to the top. Photo: SBLGA President and Rosalie
Shire Mayor Noel Strohfeld presents the SBLGA's sponsorship
cheque.
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